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Previously, the single 1/2-inch focal length RCA vidicon television camera in Block 1 and Block 2 satellites furnished a nadir resolution of 3-to-4 nautical miles (nm) over an 800 nm swath, with significant gaps in coverage of the Earth at the equator. Block 4 vehicles carried two one-inch focal length vidicons canted at 26 degrees from the vertical that provided global coverage of the Earth (contiguous coverage at the equator), along a 1,500 nm swath. The resolution varied from 0.8 nm at the nadir to 3 nm at the picture's edge. Besides a multi-sensor infrared subsystem, Block 4 also incorporated a high resolution radiometer that furnished cloud-height profiles. A tape recorder of increased capacity stored pictures of the entire northern hemisphere each day, while the satellite furnished real-time, direct local tactical weather coverage to small mobile ground or shipboard terminals.

The designation DMSP-4A (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Block 4A) was retroactively assigned to these satellites.